[Federal Register: April 1, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 63)]
[Notices]
[Page 17367-17369]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr01ap08-65]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB
Review; Comment Request
Periodically, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration (SAMHSA) will publish a summary of information
collection requests under OMB review, in compliance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). To request a copy of these
documents, call the SAMHSA Reports Clearance Officer on (240) 276-1243.
Project: The National Cross-Site Evaluation of Safe Schools/Healthy
Students (SS/HS) Initiative Grants--In Use Without Approval
The Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS) Initiative is a
collaborative grant program supported by three Federal departments--the
U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Education, and Justice.
The program is authorized under the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act of 1965, as amended, and the Higher Education Act of 1965, Title
IV, Part A, Subpart 2 (National Programs), Section 4121 (Federal
Activities), and 42 U.S.C., Section 290hh (Children and Violence).
This initiative, instituted by Congress following the murderous
assaults at Columbine High School in Colorado, is designed to provide
Local Educational Agencies (LEAs), including school districts and
multidistrict regional consortia, with funding to simultaneously
improve school safety, improve student access to mental health
services, reduce violence and substance use, and strengthen both school
relationships with the larger community and early childhood preparation
for learning. Collectively, Congress expects these changes to be
reflected in improved school climate.
Local Education Agencies (LEAs) serve as the primary applicants for
SS/HS grants, in partnership with the local mental health system, the
local law enforcement agency, and the local juvenile justice agency.
Other community partners often involved in these grants include public
and private social services agencies, businesses, civic organizations,
the faith community, and private citizens. As a result of these
partnerships, comprehensive plans are developed, implemented,
evaluated, and sustained with the goals of promoting the healthy
development of children and youth, fostering their resilience in the
face of adversity, and preventing violence.
From FY-1999 through FY-2004, grants of $1 million to $3 million
annually for 3 years were awarded to 190 LEAs, for a total of $916
million. In FY-2005, 40 new SS/HS grants were awarded; in FY-2006, an
additional 19 grants were awarded; and in FY-2007, an additional 27
grants will be awarded. These grants are providing support for rural,
tribal, suburban, and urban communities that include diverse racial and
ethnic groups across the country.
In compliance with the Government Performance and Results Act
(GPRA) of 1993, grantees are required to collect and report data that
measure the results of the programs implemented with this grant.
Specifically, grantees are required to collect and report information
on the following GPRA indicators:
1. The percentage of SS/HS grant sites that experience a decrease
in the number of violent incidents at schools.
2. The percentage of SS/HS grant sites that experience a decrease
in substance use.
3. The percentage of SS/HS grant sites that improve school
attendance.
4. The percentage of SS/HS grant sites that increase mental health
services to students and families.
As authorized by 42 U.S.C. 290hh, item (f), SAMHSA has begun a
national evaluation of the Safe School/Healthy Students (SS/HS)
projects. In addition to GPRA measures, a Federal Evaluation Work Group
of the national evaluation, comprising Federal officials representing
the U.S. Departments of Education, and Health and Human Services, has
determined that information is also required to address four
overarching questions:
1. Do conditions and resources in the pre-grant environment
facilitate or impede the implementation of the SS/HS Initiative at both
the local education agency (LEA) and school levels?
2. Do SS/HS activities lead to the intended system changes
(comprehensive policies, enhanced services, and improved coordination)?
3. Do system changes (near-term outcomes) associated with the SS/HS
Initiative lead to improvements in long-term outcomes (reduction in
substance use and violence, increased access to mental health services,
and improvement in attendance and school climate)?
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4. Overall, does the SS/HS Initiative meet the Federal Government's
expectations of achieving improvements in long-term outcomes (reduction
in substance use and violence, increased access to mental health
services, and improvement in attendance and school climate)?
The SS/HS National Evaluation Team (NET) proposes seven (7) data
collection instruments for use with various audiences and at various
times to provide systematic, rigorous answers to these questions. These
instruments are listed below and discussed:
1. A Year 1 Site Visit protocol.
2. Project-Level Survey.
3. School-Level Survey.
4. Staff School Climate Survey.
5. Group Interview.
6. Project Director Interview.
7. Partnership Inventory.
With the exception of the Staff School Climate Survey, these
instruments are currently in use without approval.
1. Year 1 Site Visit Protocol. The NET will conduct a Year 1 site
visit to all SS/HS grantees in their first year of funding. The Year 1
Site Visit is designed to clarify and expand upon information presented
in the grant application. The Site Visit Guide includes a set of
questions for each of five general topical areas:
1. Planning for the SS/HS project.
2. Current status of project implementation.
3. Enhancing interagency services.
4. Update on the SS/HS school-community partnership structure,
composition, and functioning including the current status of required
partners (i.e., education, mental health, law enforcement, and juvenile
justice).
5. Local evaluation status.
2. Project-Level Survey is to be administered annually to collect
project-level information provided by the local project director, in
consultation with the local evaluator and other key staff. This Web-
based instrument will (1) collect data and project level assessments on
technical assistance and near-term outcomes, and (2) collect data and
project-level assessments on the penetration of SS/HS-related
activities among the targeted population(s) and on the sustainability
of the activities beyond the grant period. The survey contains 114
multiple-choice questions covering seven topical areas:
1. The relationship between the local education agency (LEA) and
schools.
2. Technical assistance and training.
3. Comprehensive policies and interventions.
4. Evidence-based interventions.
5. Enhanced service integration.
6. Improved coordination.
7. Sustainability.
This survey will generate standardized cross-site measures for the
required data.
3. School-Level Survey, also administered annually, is a Web-based
survey completed by the SS/HS coordinator at each school, identified by
the local project director. Its main purpose is to collect information
describing system changes at the level of the individual schools
included in the grant (e.g., involvement of the grant partners in
activities and adoption of comprehensive safety policies at the school
level).
This instrument contains 131 multiple-choice questions covering two
main areas: (1) Organizational structure, characteristics and
activities; and (2) the school's emphasis on and student participation
in activities and programs. The School-Level Survey is designed
specifically to provide an indicator as to whether and how project-
level SS/HS-related policies are consistently diffused to the
individual schools.
Prior to fielding Project-Level and School-Level Surveys, an e-mail
and/or letter will be sent to project directors and SS/HS school
coordinators to explain the purpose of the survey and provide
information on how to complete the surveys. The e-mail and/or letter
will provide names, e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, and fax
numbers for the NET contact(s) to ensure respondents have appropriate
contact information if they have questions or need to clarify survey-
related questions. The e-mail and/or letter will also explain the
options available for completing and returning the survey (Web-based,
paper, and electronic).
Designated NET staff responsible for the two surveys will call or
e-mail the respondents after distribution to ensure responses are
received in a timely fashion. The NET also plans additional follow-up
efforts to track any respondents who fail to submit their completed
surveys after the initial follow-up.
4. Staff School Climate Survey is planned as an annual survey to be
completed by all staff at each school participating in the SS/HS
program. Administration and scoring will be conducted via an existing
infrastructure that allows immediate access to the results at school,
district, and aggregate levels for use by local and NET evaluators. The
major purposes of this survey are:
1. Assess changes in school climate at the project level.
2. Identify the extent of variation in school climate among the
target schools of each project.
3. Provide a basis for comparison of changes in the individual
dimensions of school climate.
4. Provide added value to LEAs by helping them meet Federal
legislative requirements for assessing staff perceptions of the
incidence, prevalence, and attitudes related to substance use and
violence in their schools.
Although GPRA measures monitor changes in individual outcomes among
students, GPRA measures have been found to provide an incomplete metric
of performance in terms of observed changes in overall ``school
climate.'' The SS/HS National Evaluation Team proposes to adopt the
staff version of the California Healthy Kids Survey for this purpose.
This instrument contains 43 multiple-choice questions that are used to
obtain school staff perceptions of student behavior and attitudes,
school programs and policies, and the overall school climate as they
relate to student well-being and learning. The survey deals with such
issues as truancy, safety, harassment, substance use, school
connectedness, and learning supports. The instrument will track changes
in school climate in schools targeted for program services under the
SS/HS Initiative. In the absence of the Staff School Climate Survey,
there would be no common, cross-site measure of performance across SS/
HS initiative grantees. In practice, the Staff School Climate Survey
will be administered electronically among approximately 106,000 local
educational system employees. These employees will be encouraged to log
onto a Web site during each year that their school benefits from the
grant to answer questions concerning their perception of student
behavior and safety at the school.
5. Group Interview will assess the status of the following:
1. Implementation of planned activities.
2. The status of the SS/HS school-community partnership.
3. Progress towards enhancing interagency services.
4. The status of the local evaluation.
Information will be gathered from a larger group of key informants
than during the Year 1 site visits. In addition to the project
director, key informants will include the local evaluator, required
partners from each site, and representatives from other local
organizations (e.g., alcohol and drug prevention or treatment agencies,
after-school programs, early childhood programs). The NET will consult
with Federal Project Officers and the local project directors in
deciding which
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partners/organizations will serve as key informants in the telephone
interviews. The intent is to conduct these group interviews as a
semistructured exchange among participants, guided by topics and issues
raised by the NET moderator.
6. Project Director Interview of the local SS/HS site will follow
the group interview. These structured interviews will be used primarily
to assess each partner's contribution to the core elements of
collaborative functioning. The project director interview will be
conducted twice for each SS/HS grant, following the group telephone
interviews of partnership members in the spring of Years 2 and 3 of the
grant. The interviews will be structured around 11 topics, designed to
gather information that will be used to:
1. Update program status.
2. Discuss strategies and activities the sites intend to implement.
3. Explore key partners' involvement in the project.
4. Investigate the role of the community partnership in the local
project.
5. Secure information regarding the site's perspective on the
impact of the SS/HS project on students, families, and the community.
6. Assess collaborative functioning.
This information will be used to refine project classifications,
examine changes in the number and types of evidence-based practices
being implemented, and document the number and type of new service
structures or systems sites plan to implement through the grant.
A NET site liaison will conduct the Project Director interview by
telephone. This interview contains a total of 31 questions, focusing on
10 core areas of collaborative functioning. Three subset questions
focus on the contribution rating of the partnership, examples to
support that rating, and the level of contribution of each required
partner. A final question assesses the overall contribution of each of
the partners to the SS/HS project.
7. The Partnership Inventory is a 32-item self-completion
questionnaire e-mailed to designated representatives of local
partnering organizations. Its purpose is to obtain a subjective
assessment of perceptions of operating characteristics of the
partnership process through Likert-type scaling. The first 16 items ask
respondents to give their opinions about how the SS/HS partnership is
functioning in their community. Items 17-26 focus on the contributions
the respondent's organization has made to the collaborative functions
related to SS/HS planning and implementation. The final six questions
focus on interactions among the participating members of the
collaboration, asking how often and how intensely the various
organizations work together.
The annualized burden estimates are below:
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Number of Responses per Average hours Total annual
Data collection instrument respondents respondent per response burden (hours)
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Site Visit Protocol............................. 425 1 3 1,275
Project-Level Survey............................ 85 1 0.75 64
School-Level Survey............................. 2,500 1 0.75 1,875
Staff School Climate Survey..................... 106,250 1 0.117 12,431
Group Interview................................. 425 1 1.5 638
Project Director Interview...................... 85 1 0.75 64
Partnership Inventory........................... 340 1 0.25 85
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Total....................................... 106,675 .............. .............. 16,431
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Written comments and recommendations concerning the proposed
information collection should be sent by May 1, 2008 to: SAMHSA Desk
Officer, Human Resources and Housing Branch, Office of Management and
Budget, New Executive Office Building, Room 10235, Washington, DC
20503; due to potential delays in OMB's receipt and processing of mail
sent through the U.S. Postal Service, respondents are encouraged to
submit comments by fax to: 202-395-6974.
Dated: March 24, 2008.
Elaine Parry,
Acting Director, Office of Program Services.
[FR Doc. E8-6620 Filed 3-31-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4162-20-P